Today's dish: Mititei
It is unconcievable to visit Romania and skip our most famous and beloved "mititei." There is a bit of irony in calling them "our beloved" (I'll explain later why) but however you take it "mititei" stand for a irefutable cultural trade mark. They (always in plural) sort of... define Romanians. :)
We're talking about small type of sausages made of minced meat and fried on the barbecue. Now the irony stands in the fact that... commonly, frying mici (or mititei) on the barbecue - at a picnic, outside in front of the house, in the backyard, in the park, beside the lake, in the weekend, on Easter Day, ANYTIME & ANYWHERE - has become a national sports competition. Frying mici defines the petty workers to the bones, and we're talking about a very large percent of the population. It is how they usually celebrate all the small things in their lives... and they're so many!
The smell of the frying mici is the easiest to recognize out of all smells that could possibly pass under your nose. Mici, mustard and cheap draught beer - at all public festivities, at every party, every wedding in the outskirts, everywhere.
The problem is that mici are actually very tasty and it would be a pleasure to eat them if it weren't for this aura of bad-taste celebrations that accompanies them all the time.
Making mici is quite simple: minced meat (beef and/or pork), salt, garlic and some other spices (savory, caraway) all mixed together and "moulded" in this shape:
Then you put them on the hot barbecue and let them fry well.
Always served with mustard. Always. And beer, of course, but you can try a good bottled pils. :) Enjoy!
